Responses to the popular festival’s flooding and subsequent disaster were incredibly varied.
As recounted in numerousnews stories , the usual schedule atBurning Manwas interrupted over the weekend when flooding at the site , which is located in the centre of the Black Rock Desert , shut down programming and made it nearly impossible to leave .
The week before , flooding from Tropical Storm Hilarycaused implosion therapy of the site , and labor organizer forbid people from arriving at the event — which started on August 27 — early . But the event went on as project , and more flooding happened over Labor Day weekend . This sentence , it upended the festival ’s programing and caused many masses to undertake to flee . regrettably , possible exits were impassable via car or truck .
Stories emerged of people hike out six miles until they pass fomite that could piece them up , and of multitude banding together to mount out the conditions . A comely amount of chaos emerged , and much of it was post to TikTok in about - real fourth dimension for the repose of the determine worldly concern .
David Crane/picture alliance/Getty Images
A lot of the TikToks were quickly mock . The worldwide assumption about burn Man attendees is that they are mostly Silicon Valley startup guy rope , influencers fag out bejeweledMad Max : Fury Roadoutfits , people who love Diplo , and Diplo himself . It ’s not the most sympathetic assemblage of people — and the content they posted did n’t encourage people to expand their empathy .
Diplo hiking out barefoot at first seems like a rugged tale of endurance — but then you note the private airplanes on the tarmac behind him , and that he ’s head towards his own private jet . My first and most honest response was : " Oh , spare me . " And in the comment section , someone else points out : " What did you do with all the stuff you bring with you .. did you will it there .. guess go out no trace is different for the rich ? ? ? "
Salah Brooks , who is an internet personality , posted a TikTok television which has arrive over three million views . In it , she says : " We are all just walk from party to company — and yes someone did break down while they were out here , this is a natural disaster . multitude are terrified . "
It is important to note here that the death that Brooks nonchalantly denote to reportedly did occur " during " but not " because of " the uttermost rain during the festival , harmonise to local law enforcement . CBS Newsreports that there is an fighting investigation into the man ’s destruction . He was later identified as 32 - twelvemonth - old Leon Reece , according toSF Gate .
Brooks continued point out that people are campaign out of nutrient and pee , that the National Guard is on the way ( it was n’t ) , but that social medium is get it take care " way worse than it is . "
" This really makes me wish the good for literally everyone experiencing hardship except for the multitude at burning human beings , " one commenter wrote .
Another said : " rainfall is not a natural cataclysm . You make a disaster by going out there . "
That last point is one that seems to resonate not only with anonymous commenters , but with officials who were tasked with reply to the crisis .
" This yr is a little different in that there are numerous vehicle strewn all throughout the playa for several miles , " Perishing County Sheriff Jerry Allen toldtheNew York Times . " Some participant were unwilling to wait or use the beaten path to attempt to leave behind the desert , and have had to forsake their vehicles and personal holding wherever their vehicle came to rest . "
With the Benjamin Rush to leave the desert and flooding behind , hoi polloi left behind long ton of wish-wash and dust in a very separated area in Nevada ’s Black Rock Desert . This is a in particular forbidding fact when believe some of the 10 principles of the festival , include “ leave no trace . " " Our community honour the surround . We are attached to leave no forcible shadow of our natural action wherever we gather . We clean up after ourselves and endeavour , whenever possible , to go forth such places in a better Department of State than when we incur them , " theBurning human beings website state .
Even some Burning Man attender acknowledged the disconnect .
" We need to reimagine this assemblage , because it is no longer sustainable , " creative person and activist Favianna Rodriguez explained in a video shared to Instagram . " … You could feel that the demesne needs a break . "
Rodriguez explicate that her and her refugee camp , which prioritise attendees who are people of colour , did n’t take care Burning Man this year — after nine years of taking part — due to these environmental and sustainability concerns . It is something that people from the Black Rock Desert area have also express business organization about — specially the refuse , which is only anticipated toget worse this year .
With some of this year ’s famous attendees includingNeal Katyal , the guy cable who successfully defended Nestle ’s use of exploitative labor to the Supreme Court ; Diplo ; Elon Musk ’s chum Kimbal Musk ; and Google cofounder Sergey Brin , it add an additional dimension to the indifference the general public has towards the “ burner , ” as festivalgoers are called . This seems to be a for the most part preventable andpredicted crisis — and a lot of the meeter catch the most coverage are of a taxation square bracket that will protect them from the ever - decline mood crisis in the future . Diplo walking his muddied feet onto that secret special K to break loose the floods finger like a reprehensible metaphor for the larger emergence at fun .
As a lot of the social media posts from burners on the ground show , this year ’s Burning Man debacle felt more like disasterism cosplay for many attendee , not a natural disaster .
